Reunion
by Taylor Divine
Summary: Tali'Zorah's life has changed. A posting on the Neema and helping her father concerning Geth experimentation has thrust her into a flurry of work. Here on Freedom's Progress as she watches her mission and team fall apart she's informed that a Cerberus vessel has appeared in orbit. Just her luck.


Tali was understandably upset. The mission on Freedom's Progress was falling apart. Veetor, poor Veetor had activated the settlement's entire security interface and the mechs were tearing apart the pre-fab buildings that she and her squad were hiding in.

Prazza was chattering over the coms, and she had to spend as much time actually commanding her squad as she did, yelling at Prazza and countermanding his orders. Prazza was military through and through and he stifled under Tali's research team, referring to them as "baggage" and complaining about being sent as babysitters, as if they were children still in the bubble.

She ducked down as the security mechs bullets riddled the prefab structure's walls. She was alone in the building, the squad pulling forward ahead of her.

They had mostly a grudging respect for her, but she knew that there were whispers of discontent, calling her "the Admirals daughter". She could almost laugh. Her father Rael was the farthest thing from a nepotist, she would always have to prove herself to him, always a father that was distant enough to set the goals a little higher, a little farther out of reach.

Her posting with the research team was simply another chance to prove something she could never do, a high enough profile to make the "Normandy hero" visible enough to boost morale.

Tali had returned as one of the most successful Quarians from Pilgrimage ever, handing over Geth data that gave away almost every military tactic in there repertoire. And all along the famous Commander Shepard.

Tali drove those memories down. He was dead, he was gone, you saw it everyone saw it. She had been at the funeral, right in the front row along the rest of his squad.

She had been special to him in some way she felt, but almost everyone on the team was. She smiled thinking of how often he had come down to check on Engineering, treating Adams and the other Engineers like valuable members, not just the "crew" not just naval scrubs that were too far below his notice to care. No one on the Normandy was.

She pushed that aside, pushed his face, his words, how he smiled at her when he had handed over the Geth OSD quieting her concerns about Alliance military protocol or likewise. He had listened when she talked about her Pilgrimage, expressed interest in helping her, and when they found the data on that far-off Geth outpost he had given it directly to her, and she had been the one to ask if the Alliance needed it.

They had and they did receive it, after her. In some ways I guess I was more important to him than they were, Tali thought.

She let the thought burn in her while the marines pounded against the mechs. As the mechs narrowed in on her squad and she ordered them to fall back and regroup. As too late they turned and she shut her comms down, to drown out the sounds of bullets, of screams.

"Damn it, damn it! Fall back everyone, now!"

Prazza's comms crackled after here's and for once she appreciated what he said.

"I second that. Fall back to defensive points, get behind something. Everyone else covering fire."

Tali raised her rifle up and began firing, bullets ricocheting off shields. Over the comm she could hear Prazza's rifle ratchet off in tandem. They barely made a dent in the machines shield.

Tali moved to fall back out of the building, when she was thrown off her feet by an explosion. The building shook and the door was blown open. She saw several blurred figures running outside, circling the mech.

She saw the mech focus forward on the building it had just blown open. She saw several shadowy figures shooting desperately at the mech, her squad's hooded silhouettes joined by what looked like commandos, humanoid enough.

She thought back to a transmission from three hours earlier,they had pin-pointed it down as Cerberus. She had disregarded it, despite there acts of terrorism she had hoped they were just passing through. The Quarians would be long gone by then.

Now they were here. The terrorist bosh'tets who gladly had Quarian blood on there hands , were here.

Now she was dazed on the floor, the shooting had stopped and she saw a figure approaching from the dust, shrouded by the debris. She moved backwards, grabbing for the rifle that had been flung away in the blast.

She was just about to grab it, almost there when she heard a voice that made her freeze. No it couldn't be, it can't be. It's been so long we all moved on, I moved on...tried to move on. And there was no way he'd be here. Death was the void, like the space that he had meet his.

"Tali? Tali is that you?"

She turned around slowly, not wanting to see and be disappointed , to see nothing and realize it was just another relapse into PTSD.

She had too. Turning around she was going to either see nothing or some Cerberus officer or just Prazza trying to get her attention. She breathed in deeply and turned around.

He was wearing black armor, something like the old Alliance gear he once had but with Cerberus orange and white, the logo splashed on the chest. This was peeling, not naturally, but like someone had taken a knife something to scrape the paint off. He had the same build, same body, but his face...

There were scars across his face, deep almost etched in. He had a blue tinge to his skin and she winced as she near this meant cybernetics, under the skin, under flesh and in bone.

But he smiled. When he looked at her he softened, and no matter the sound of continued talking outside, the noise of someone arguing, she just looked forward.

He stepped forward again laying the gun to the side, half-smiling his self-assured way. She had seen him die. She and the rest of engineering on the escape shuttle had seen the Normandy burn, turn to dust and fragment among the nearby planet's atmosphere. There was no way, no way that...

Shepard grabbed the hand that had been reaching for the weapon. He grabbed her hand. Holding it gently, like cradling something fragile, precious. He moved to pull her up and she bolted into his arms.

"Shepard. Shepard is that you? But Shepard I saw you. John I saw you...die." Tali said that last word almost like a breath, not daring to say it out loud.

John smiled gently and held her at arm's length for a second. Looking at her. Just looking.

She was different in some way. The hood she wore was newer and had a different swirl design. Almost like curly hair. She was taller and he could tell that this was a new suit.

"How did your Pilgrimage end?" Tali was broken out of her reverie by the question and she seemed startled at first. John suppressed a smile at that.

"Pilgrimage? Oh yes my Pilgrimage. It was a great success. I was accepted to the Neema. I'm Tali'Zorah vas Neema, now. Thanks to you really. Because of the Geth data."

Shepard smiled again. "That's good to hear." He frowned however as if something just occurred to him.

"So Tali this was your mission? Your squad? "

"Yes, Shepard. Why?"

She seemed worried at the new concerned tone in his voice. Something she recognized from when Ashley...no. She was there leader, there commander they were her's to watch and take care of. To lead.

Behind Shepard another human appeared in the same black Cerberus uniform. He carried himself in much the same way Shepard did, like military. He was followed by a woman in white, carrying herself with an air of command.

"Shepard we need you to deal with something. There's a quar-" she stopped when she saw the Commander holding another Quarian, this one with a female build. Hard to tell under those suits but was this the same from the dossiers?

The Quarian was the first to speak up.

"That's Veetor. He's why were here. He got lost on Pilgrimage, or rather we lost contact with him when Freedom's Progress went dark. Is he okay?"

John steeled himself for a second and turned to the man. "Jacob where is he?"

"Right this way, Sir." He led the group out of the building. Shepard stayed back with Tali behind him. When they passed he nodded at Tali, who simply stared. Cerberus bosh'tet.

Together Shepard, Jacob and Miranda, along with what remained of the Quarian squad walked out. Eventually they came across a large, low building and entering in they found Veetor. The Quarian, really just a kid about Tali's age when she went on Pilgrimage, was sitting surrounded by monitors tapping at buttons, the screens mostly full of static.

John walked quietly up to Veetor and gently touched his shoulder. The Quarian started and turned immediately around.

"Tali?" he spoke quietly when he saw her then darted his eyes around at the others.

"Veetor this is Shepard and his crew. I told you about Shepard. He helped me on my Pilgrimage. Your safe now."

Veetor turned to John and looked him up and down.

"Shepard. No not safe, never safe. Things, cloud dark as night, black little crawling, flying things. Came down unto us surrounded, colony hid. No where to go everyone ran. Hide in buildings, outside. Didn't matter. Always found them, always there. Find me. Come back for me. For you. Everyone screamed no one came back. No one."

He turned to the monitor and activating it with his omnitool displayed a grainy scene for them.

The human colony, people walking by safely, happily.

Unaware of anything. Suddenly a figure darted from the right of the screen. And another. It was people humans running, running from this grey and black cloud. Covering the buildings, people who fell were covered by dark cloud. Before the screen faded out, a taller humanoid figure walked across the screen.

"Pause it there" Shepard stated and Veetor rewound the film and left it focused on the dark figure. It's head was vaguely triangular in shape, four eyes, two on either side, like the segmented eyes of insects.

"What are those?"

"Collectors" Miranda stated plainly.

"An alien species from beyond the Omega relay. Secretive. No one's ever been through the relay. It just...doesn't work. You go through you don't come back and no one knows where it leads. They've been known to arrange trades with other nations for years. Asking for various specimens of specific races. Slavers do there work as easily as governments who want to get rid of undesired elements. If they serve the Reapers" and here Miranda stopped talking and stared at the screen.

"We need Veetor to come with us. Here's the only recorded survivor of a Collector attack on a Human colony, who recorded the whole thing. He needs to come with us" Miranda stated plainly.

Tali turned to the woman and glared daggers at her and John heard her mutter something under her breath.

"Are you crazy? Veetor's sick he needs medical attention, he needs to come back home. To his family. Here" and she turned to Veetor's arm and typed a quick command on his omni-tool. A OSD popped out and she handed it over to Jacob, who took it and smiled at Tali. She acknowledged him this time, nodding her head slightly and then turning to Shepard.

"There, that's a record of everything that happened here, of Veetor's story. That's all you need" but this she said with less conviction then before. It was three human soldiers, outfitted with top of the class gear. Tali and Veetor were Quarians carrying hand-me-down pistols and wearing exo-suits. If John tried to take Veetor...no this is still John, Tali though to herself. He's my friend. My captain, Tali thought wistfully.

John looked at Miranda and shook his head. Walking over to Veetor he touched his shoulder and looked into his visor.

"Are you okay, Veetor? Did they hurt you?"

Veetor shook his head vigorously, before gazing at his hands. He watched them as if obsessed with remembering every way there was to move them.

John shook his head, and after squeezing the kid's shoulder he turned to them.

"Tali come on. I'll help you get Veetor back to the ship you came in. Now-"

"Commander! Are you really giving an eyewitness of a Collector attack away? Trust me Cerberus will watch him. We'll simply ask him some questions, fix his suit, deal with any health issue he may have and send him back. If you want you may even keep the shuttle that we'll send, jus-"

"Quiet" Shepard stated simply, not yelling but talking over her.

"I don't think a Cerberus vessel would be welcomed warmly into the Flotilla. I may be funded by them, but trust me I don't like it, neither is it by choice. We take the data. I'll take Veetor back to the Quarian ship. With Tali. You wait for me on our shuttle."

Miranda quieted down and stared at the floor. Jacob simply barked "Yes, Sir" and getting Miranda to follow him, walked out.

Before leaving Jacob stopped and extended a hand to Tali.

"It's nice to finally meet you Miss 'Zorah. The Commander spoke highly of you."

Tali took his hand gingerly and shook it. She liked this one better. Still Cerberus, still deluded, but apparently good-hearted.

"That's nice Mr. ...?"

"Jacob. Jacob Taylor. My friend was Miranda. I'll leave Shepard and you to talk."

He turned to leave, but not before saying courtly "Commander" and turning to Veetor, "Veetor." He walked out leaving the three alone.

_**/**_

Veetor hung between them, trying not to drag his feet, but still slowing them down. John held him carefully and while doing so, looked over at Tali.

"So it's "vas Neema" huh? How is it like being an adult Ms. Zorah?"

He said that almost playfully and Tali thought for a moment about that. She had always had a crush on John back on the SR-1, before he died, but she had never pursued it. John would never be one to pursue a relationship with someone...like her. A suit rat, she thought.

But he still talked to her like a person. Not an alien, not a Quarian. Like a person. Like a friend. A woman.

"Yes. I presented the Geth data to the Neema's captain and he accepted it quite joyously. Information on the Geth is always needed. I also forwarded it to my father. He told me it was "good work."

The phrase was simple enough, but John felt to Tali, someone who desperately wanted approval from this father of hers, it was so much more. John understood it, somewhat. But then again he was so young when the Batarians came. When Mindoir...there weren't many people to prove himself to growing up. Just himself.

"I'm glad, Tali. For you, I mean."

Tali nodded though he did not know quite what he did mean. Once arriving at there vessel, Tali quickly opened it and John placed Veetor inside.

Tali did a quick medical scan with her omnitool before turning to John.

"He'll be fine. I have the supplies I need here and well, I will just need to round up everything here."

Tali was referring to her squad...what remained of it and they were going over the abandoned town and collecting what there was of worth around the town.

"Is there anything you or your squad need Tali? We have plenty to spare."

Tali shook her head. Keelah, John was still so helpful, so kind. If only her father didn't need her.

"No Shepard. No, but thank you."

John simply smiled.

"And your absolutely certain you can't join up again? Seeing Tali'Zorah on my crew roster would sure brighten my day."

Tali shook her head again, but laughed this time.

"Oh John I would give so much to be with you again, I mean on the same ship with you. Serving with you. As crew."

John smiled as she stumbled over her words, trying to say exactly he right thing. It was...cute.

"But my father needs me. The Flotilla needs me."

"You give too much of yourself to other's Tali. It's important to look out for yourself. To be selfish sometimes. Your a good person, you deserve it."

As he said that he titled Tali's head with his hand on her chin and Tali didn't care anymore about the Geth, her squad, Prazza or her father. For a second she didn't care about the Flotilla, her race, or anything else. All she cared about was Shepard and the fact that he felt she was a "good person." And that was good enough.

_**AN: Second Mass Effect fanfiction in as many days? Yeah! Hope you liked this, if you want it can be considered the same canon as Rannoch, as nothing really conflicts. I hope no one felt that I was too harsh with Miranda in this. She's actually my second favorite LI after Tali. In my mind you romance Tali, you romance Miranda or there's pretty much no real choice. Ha-ha kidding...kind off. But seriously Miranda really grew on me as the game progressed. In the beginning I was pretty much always pissed off by her character. Shooting that guy on the station, trying to take Veetor, defending Cerberus consistently. Halfway through the game she really started to grow on me. She was very determined, had a lot of self-confidence,I never really got that bimbo vibe that everyone talks about. Gratuitous ass-shots plenty, but that's Bioware's fault. And who am I, a Talimancer, to complain about a character's ass? By her loyalty mission I was really rooting for her as a character, and when she told the Illusive Man to basically fuck off at the end of the game, I saw the culmination of "real" character growth. I certainly like her more than Jack...but that's another story.**_


End file.
